Layoffs? “ In 2023, it is sure that there will be some among the promoters.” Arnaud Bastide, president of the Provence branch of the Federation of Property Developers (FPI) is not very reassuring. It must be said that the situation is not encouraging, he says. Between the plummeting number of building permits granted – particularly in Toulon – the scarcity and high cost of land, the cost of construction rising due to inflation, and the rate of wear and tear for customers.
Result: “We no longer produce and the number of new products we put on sale continues to plummet.” In the Provence-Mediterranean sector, the drop in reservations by customers between the first quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023 is around 45%. A figure slightly higher than the national data, established at 41%.
Open letter to the President
This is how the FPI signed, at the beginning of the week alongside the Fnaim, the Building Federation or even the United, which brings together real estate professionals, an open letter to the President of the Republic asking in particular “the alleviation of the constraints put in place by the High Council for Financial Stability”. The health of the sector depends on the ability of the French to invest. Without “an essential electroshock”it’s a “risk of an economic, social and societal bomb represented by the crisis of the “power to live””write the signatories of the missive.
“We’ve been pulling the rope for three yearsinsists Arnaud Bastide. Today, the wall, we are inside.” And he’s not just talking regarding his profession. The local representative of the FPI also fears for the attractiveness of the territory. Because lack of buildings rhymes with shortage of housing. “Companies do not choose to settle in sectors where they cannot accommodate their employees.”
Without counting, prophesies the person in charge, that “When people can no longer find housing, can no longer pay their rent, they will end up taking to the streets!”